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I give up on free software phones (2019)

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Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#181

Post by interlinked »

jancsika wrote: post #33

Someone should do a Linux phone that scales way back: 1. you can dial phone numbers somehow 2. you can talk on the phone 3. you can hear the person on the other line 4. the cell reception on the phone is decent quality 5. antenna is properly placed for very good reception 6. basic SMS works, all the time 7. has been extensively tested to work with a single carrier, any other carrier is no warranty 8. boot time and sh…

Just package virtualbox in a midrange android phone with an OS image that does what you want. Maybe some port forwarding to make phone calls and stuff.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#182

Post by lopis »

interlinked wrote: post #180
AndyKelley wrote: post #75

I got my librem in the mail last week after waiting several years(!!) for shipping. It's complete trash. The software is shit, the battery is shit, it's expensive, low specs, completely unusable. I'm willing to compromise a lot in order to go with the free software approach, but my god, just do better. There's no excuse for how un-functional this thing is. Try harder. I had the same reaction with the pine phone a cou…

Valve should try their hands at it. Steam deck already makes up ~40% of linux desktop installations. By the end of this year, it should be more than half of all linux installations.

> Steam deck already makes up ~40% of linux desktop installations

Do you have a source for this? This sounds a bit hard to believe, and I can't find a source. The sources I found show that within Steam installations, Steam Deck users are a significant share, but not the majority [0]

[0] https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/06/steam-deck-already-hit...

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#183

Post by pyrale »

cookiengineer wrote: post #166
harry8 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminder whenever this comes up that the Nokia N900 was a beautiful, functional thing running linux and Free software 10 years ago. No really. Best phone I've ever owned. Better than apple or android. It's loss was immense.

Also kudos to the scene in Die Hard 4.0 showing off Linux/Maemo at the time. The N900 was my dream device, and the prototype of the latest model still is on eBay for ridiculous price ranges. I wish the pinephone would be exactly like the N900, but with better CPU specs.

> but with better CPU specs.

I would, on the other hand, leave the CPU as it is, and welcome any change to battery life. That's the only factor preventing me from using one as a daily driver.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#184

Post by squarefoot »

harry8 wrote: post #141
AndyKelley wrote: post #75

I got my librem in the mail last week after waiting several years(!!) for shipping. It's complete trash. The software is shit, the battery is shit, it's expensive, low specs, completely unusable. I'm willing to compromise a lot in order to go with the free software approach, but my god, just do better. There's no excuse for how un-functional this thing is. Try harder. I had the same reaction with the pine phone a cou…

Reminder whenever this comes up that the Nokia N900 was a beautiful, functional thing running linux and Free software 10 years ago. No really. Best phone I've ever owned. Better than apple or android. It's loss was immense.

> Nokia N900 was a beautiful, functional thing running linux and Free software 10 years ago.

All my horses on this being the #1 reason why Microsoft panicked and pushed Nokia into a partnership that ultimately forced Nokia to sell its mobile business to Microsoft, which of course meant the end of Linux in those devices.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#185

Post by pjmlp »

AndyKelley wrote: post #167
crote wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It had a well-polished Linux-based OS, developed in-house by Nokia. Excellent hardware for the time, and a keyboard which was a delight to use. It got pretty decent reviews - even outside of the Linux fanboy bubble. It's just a good phone which happens to run Linux, not a mediocre phone hyped because it is one of the few Linux options available.

I mean, Android is mostly Linux. I don't think the kernel is the issue. The issue with librem is that they put very little effort into the basic user experience of the software.

Not really, in what concerns application developers.

Only the Java/Kotlin userspace and the small set of NDK libraries are considered official and stable.

Anyone that ventures outside this path and isn't an OEM doing their own Android distribution, is on their own if the application actually works at all when deployed via the PlayStore, as the Termux guys eventually found out.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#186

Post by andai »

AndyKelley wrote: post #75

I got my librem in the mail last week after waiting several years(!!) for shipping. It's complete trash. The software is shit, the battery is shit, it's expensive, low specs, completely unusable. I'm willing to compromise a lot in order to go with the free software approach, but my god, just do better. There's no excuse for how un-functional this thing is. Try harder. I had the same reaction with the pine phone a cou…

I've never used these phones but from your post it sounds like the operation might be run by Apple or Google, to give free software phones a bad name.

It probably isn't, but the fact that it seems like a possibility isn't a great sign!

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#187

Post by beebeepka »

andai wrote: post #186
AndyKelley wrote: post #75

I got my librem in the mail last week after waiting several years(!!) for shipping. It's complete trash. The software is shit, the battery is shit, it's expensive, low specs, completely unusable. I'm willing to compromise a lot in order to go with the free software approach, but my god, just do better. There's no excuse for how un-functional this thing is. Try harder. I had the same reaction with the pine phone a cou…

I've never used these phones but from your post it sounds like the operation might be run by Apple or Google, to give free software phones a bad name. It probably isn't, but the fact that it seems like a possibility isn't a great sign!

That was my first thought as well.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#188

Post by plq »

AndyKelley wrote: post #75

I got my librem in the mail last week after waiting several years(!!) for shipping. It's complete trash. The software is shit, the battery is shit, it's expensive, low specs, completely unusable. I'm willing to compromise a lot in order to go with the free software approach, but my god, just do better. There's no excuse for how un-functional this thing is. Try harder. I had the same reaction with the pine phone a cou…

I know it's not free software, but I find the Jolla/Sailfish phones, the spiritual successors to the OS of the N9, a decent tradeoff between freedom and usability. It even runs android apps!

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#189

Post by fouc »

crote wrote: post #144
AndyKelley wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

tell me more?

It had a well-polished Linux-based OS, developed in-house by Nokia. Excellent hardware for the time, and a keyboard which was a delight to use. It got pretty decent reviews - even outside of the Linux fanboy bubble. It's just a good phone which happens to run Linux, not a mediocre phone hyped because it is one of the few Linux options available.

> Maemo Leste is an operating system currently in development. It is a modernised and liberated version of Maemo 5, rebased on top of Devuan with a mainline Linux kernel. The first operating system images were released in February 2018.

> It is currently in a usable state with support for various targets such as the N900, Motorola Droid 4 and the PinePhone.

Neat!

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#190

Post by 5e92cb50239222b »

superchroma wrote: post #111
Arnavion wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes they do need to understand it. If you believe you don't need or want to understand it, then Linux phones are not for you. It's okay. Really. Not everything has to be for everyone, and evidently Linux phones are not for you. Please don't buy them. Thanks.

typical user-hostile linux user opinion. If you're wondering why the year of the linux desktop hasn't happened yet, this is why.

It's still less user-hostile than ads in your start menu and asking the overlord for the privilege of having rights to use your own computer. That's good enough for me.
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